1. Paula Turner falsely claims that she 'trained' Seattle Slew. She did not. This is a misrepresentation - she saddle broke him only, but we were informed that Seattle Slew was such a mess when he left her care that the track conditioners had to re-train him. Paula uses her brief experience with Seattle Slew to mis-lead admiring racehorse fans into believing that she saved him from breaking down.
2. We sent 3 yearlings to Paula, one of the fillies damaged her left shoulder under her care and we were never notified. After removing our horses from Paula's stable, the veterinarian at the new farm x-rayed the filly and notified us that the injury had been ongoing for several months. It was obvious from the horses movements that she was having difficulty and the shoulder was markedly smaller than the other and had atrophied.
3. Paula did not attempt to saddle break the horses after 8 months of residing on her property. It became apparent that we were her only customers and it is reasonable to assume that she was stringing us along to maintain her income.
4. After 8 months, the horses had not developed sufficient muscle mass to be galloped. The new breaking trainer put saddles on immediately upon arrival. The horses were very week and basically had to start their basic equitation back from the beginning.
5. We lent Paula $700 worth of digital camera equipment to film the horses progress. After 5 months she has refused to return the equipment. We went so far as to provide her with shipping containers, shipping labels with account numbers such that she would incur no shipping costs whatsoever.
6. Paula went into a rage when we notified her that we were removing the horses. She made numerous insinuations and claimed that numerous acquaintances and so called 'staff' were distraught that the horses were going to be taken away. They claimed consistently for several months and up to the day the horses were retrieved that the horses were extremely dangerous. They were not. Upon arrival to the new farm I was able to enter all of their stalls and enjoy their affections.
7. Paula claims to have a fully staffed barn. Upon arrival of the shipper to retrieve the horses, Paula was alone to greet them. She was on crutches and claimed that the colt had injured her thigh by kicking her. For a horseman of her alleged caliber, it is extraordinary that she was left without any help to turn over the horses. We suspect that it is because she didn't want anyone to see her possible bogus act of appearing on crutches.
8. Paula was extremely unprofessional in her email communications, offering long rambling rants with insinuations and veiled threats. We have saved every correspondence and are happy to share them with any horse owner considering hiring her services.
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